§ MR. CROMBIE (Kincardineshire)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether the expression excisable liquors, sometimes occurring in the Licensing Acts Consolidation (Scotland) Bill in place of intoxicating liquors in the consolidated Acts, is exactly equivalent to the latter; and will he explain why in Clause 52 intoxicating is retained, while in Clause 53 it is altered to excisable.
MR. A. GRAHAM MURRAYThe expression "excisable liquors" occurs throughout all the Scottish Licensing 180 Acts which have been consolidated, and accordingly will be found in the corresponding sections of the Consolidation Bill. The only sections of the Bill where the expression "intoxicating liquors" is used contain provisions which were either in Acts originally confined to England but subsequently extended to Scotland, or in a public general Act such as the Intoxicating Liquors (Sale to Children) Act, 1901. While the two expressions are practically synonymous it has been thought advisable not to change the original phraseology. The discrepancy referred to in the last paragraph of the hon. Member's Question is due to a drafting error and will be corrected.